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Glossary
A *''Agenothree'' Pernese word for Nitric Acid, or HNO³. B *''Between'' *''Beyond'' *''Black Rock'' Pernese word for Coal. *''By the Egg'' Pernese Oath. *''By the Egg of Faranth'' Pernese Oath. *''By the first Egg'' Pernese Oath. *''By the shards of my dragon's egg'' Pernese Oath. C *''Craftmaster'' *''Crawlers'' A sort of small, six-legged, gecko looking creature that crawls along walls and even ceilings with their sticky little feet. They have a round stinging mouth and no eyes. Humans and dragons loathe them, firelizards love to eat them. D *''Day Sisters/Dawn Sisters'' *''Deadglow'' *''Dragon's Tongue'' A native succulent Pernese plant which produces a gel similar to Terran aloe. *''Dragonet'' Original name for fire-lizards Also refers to young dragons *''Drudge'' E *''Eridani'' F *''Fardles/Fardling Pernese Oath *''Firefly A small winged beetle whose abdomen glows with a luminescent light. Looks a bit like the Terran firefly, but tends to glow in different colors. *''Firestone'' A phosphine bearing rock found on Pern. Dragons and fire lizards can chew it to produce phosphorous gases which are ignited to burn Thread out of the sky. *''Flamestone A highly volatile variant of firestone, capable of exploding into flame upon contact with moisture. Mistakenly used as firestone throughout the Second Interval. *''Fly-by A small flying insect much like a gnat. G *''Grub'' A type of worm or millipede that has spread throughout the southern continent. They are known both for their eating of Thread and their beneficial affect on the plants around them. The Grub was genetically engineered by the settlers to consume Thread. It serves the important purpose of protecting fields and crops by tunneling underground, eating any Thread that has reached the ground and burrowed. However, up until the ninth pass, it had only flourished in the Southern Continent and its existence was forgotten by most of the inhabitants of the Northern continent for many years. The only people who knew about the grubs had been eradicating them whenever they appeared in the North; an error in records interpretation led them to believe they were parasitical instead of beneficial. After the error was corrected, the grubs were encouraged to flourish—indeed it was noted that areas sown with the grubs prospered better due to the grubs aerating the soil and preventing Thread from destroying the crops or potential infestations forcing the burning of the field. H *''Herdsman'' Term used to refer to a member of the Beastcraft in the Sixth Pass. *''Hold'' I *''Impression'' *''Interval'' J *''Jays'' Pernese Oath *''Journeyman'' K *''Klah'' A Pernese beverage similar to Terran Coffee. It is brewed from the bark of the Klah tree. Its taste has hints of chocolate and cinnamon. *''Klick'' Ancient word for Kilometre. L *''Lady Holder'' Title for wife of Lord Holder; in late Ninth Pass used as title for female Lord Holders. *''Long Interval'' *''Looks to'' *''Lord Holder'' M *''Month'' N *''Nathi'' *''Needlethorn'' A native succulent Pernese plant whose hollow thorns can be used as hypodermic needles. *''Numbweed'' A native Pernese plant that contains a strong analgesic which is made into a cream that numbs small wounds completely and dulls the pain of larger wounds. O *''Oldtimer'' P *''Packtail'' A tasty, but dangerously barbed fish. (Resembling the Terran monkfish). *''Pass'' Q *''Queen'' Alternate term for a gold fire-lizard, watch-wher or dragon. R S *''Scorch it'' Pernese Oath *''Sevenday'' Pernese word for "week". *''Shards'' Pernese Oath. *''Shells'' Pernese Oath. *''Snake'' 1. Snake 2. Short word for Tunnel Snake; a Six-legged creature native to Pern (Water Snake another ) *''Spinner'' Native species of Pernese spiders. There are also imported species descended from ones brought by the colonists whose silk can be gathered and spun like silkworm silk, though not quite as fine. Called gossamer spinners. *''Springs'' Insects that hang in spiral loops until they find someone or something to cling to. They have an irritating, prickly bite. T *''Taking a short dragon-ride'' A euphemism for the ending of an unwanted pregnancy. This arose because the extreme cold of between can cause spontaneous abortion. but did require sensible a convalescence. This process of abortion was accepted on Pern, at least among dragonriders. As a result of this risk female green riders would fight Fall with the queen's wing (where they would not need to jump between as frequently) when they were pregnant and wanted to keep the baby. According to Telgar Weyrwoman Zulaya there had only been a few of these between-abortions in her time as Weyrwoman (end of First Interval/beginning of Second Pass). *''Thank the Dawn Sisters'' Pernese Oath; used by Jayge Lilcamp (Renegades of Pern). *''Through Fall, Fog and Fire'' Pernese Oath. *''Timing-it'' *''Trundlebug'' A useful insect that eats parasites, turns the soil and acts as a pollinator. They have the most elaborate color camouflage of all the insects found on Pern and come in many colors. *''Tunnel Snake'' Tunnel snakes are reptilian vermin that infest Pern. Unlike Terran serpents tunnel snakes posess six limbs which some use to burrow and dig. Others are adapated to survive an amphibious life, with either webbed feet or paddles. Only a few species of tunnel snakes are edible, as the colonists learned early on. Some species also have a venomous bite, that could prove fatal if left untreated. *''Turn'' U V * VTOL A sort of furry insect with double pairs of wings. The discoverers of these insects named them VTOLS (for ‘Vertical Take-Off and Landing’). W *''Weyr'' Either a place that is home to many dragons (Weyr) or the resting place of an individual dragon (weyr). *''Weyrbrat'' *''Weyrleader'' *''Weyrling'' *''Weyrlingmaster'' *''Weyrsinger'' *''Weyrwoman'' *''Wherhide'' Pernese term for leather. *''Wherries'' Wherries are large avian creatures with 6 limbs, a strong rear pair for walking and grasping, the forelimbs are used for rending and tearing, while the middle set of limbs are large leathery wings. Unlike Terran birds the Wherry is covered in a soft fur like down. Wherries are used as food stock, and their fatty flesh will often be an indication of where it fed, picking up a fishy taste when it feeds by the sea, and a nutty taste when it has feed on grains from the plains. They were named for their resemblance to Wherries, a form of flat-bottomed barge used on Earth, by the EEC survey team. It is unclear in the books if there are different species of wherries. X Y Z Category: Browse